Barack and Michelle Obama are buying a $15M estate in Martha’s Vineyard
By Hana R. Alberts
August 22, 2019 | 11:49am | Updated
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Getty, Realtor.com
Barack and Michelle Obama are close to buying a massive Martha’s Vineyard estate.
TMZ reports that the former president and first lady are in escrow — aka in contract to purchase — a 29-acre beachfront plot with a 6,892-square-foot main house. The Obamas were initially just renting the seven-bedroom, 8½-bathroom spread for summer 2019, but apparently loved it so much that they made an offer.
It was most recently on the market asking $14.85 million, but the Obamas are apparently paying less.
The property at 79 Turkeyland Cove Road in Edgartown, Mass. — owned by Boston Celtics chief Wyc Grousbeck — has a living room with vaulted ceilings and a stone fireplace, a chef’s kitchen and a formal dining room with giant windows, according to the property’s Realtor.com listing.
The Obamas will bunk in the master suite, which has a fireplace and private sun deck.
Outside, there’s a pool with another fireplace — or the couple could swim on the private beach, which has a boathouse.
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“It’s not a done deal just yet,” TMZ says. “We’re told there are contingencies so it’s possible it could fall apart, but we’re told so far it’s a go.”
Grousbeck initially put the palatial property on the market in 2015 for $22.5 million.
In 2017, the Obamas dropped $8.1 million on a nine-bedroom house in the Washington, DC, neighborhood of Kalorama.
There’s plenty more where that came from. As of 2018, Barack Obama’s net worth was about $40 million, from projects like speaking engagements and books as well as the six-figure pension granted to all past presidents, according to a GoBankingRates calculation.
But given Michelle Obama’s bestselling hit “Becoming” — and the lucrative book tour that accompanied it — it’s estimated the couple is actually worth more than $135 million. (Their production deal with Netflix to produce films, announced in May, is another boon to the coffers.)
Tom LeClair and Gerret Conover with LandVest Martha’s Vineyard are marketing the listing.